Oft do i dream- Made by: Paul Verlain

Link to poem:

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/oh-heavy-heavy-my-despair/

Image:

Link to image:

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/paul-verlaine

Biography:

• The French poet, Symbolist leader, and Decadent Paul-Marie Verlaine was born in Metz, Northeast France on March 30, 1844. His family moved to Paris in 1851, where he was enrolled in the lycée. 
• In 1862, he received his bachelor’s degree, then following the wishes of his father, an infantry captain, entered civil service.
• In 1866, Verlaine published his first book of poetry, Poèmes saturniens. 
• As a young boy he had loved Elisa Dehee, an orphan cousin that the Verlaine family had raised, and his second book, Fêtes galantes, was published in 1869 after her death.
• 1894 he was elected France’s “Prince of Poets” by his peers. 
• He died in Paris at the age of 52 on January 8, 1896.

All facts from:

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/paul-verlaine

Speaker:

This poem "Oft Do I Dream" is talking about how he dreams about a mysterious woman that he doesn't know reminds him of someone that he used to know. Also is is saying how her voice when she speaks reminds him of someone he once knew that is now dead. The speaker seems to be in love with a ghost because he is in love with a person he does not know which could also mean he has love for a person that he has lost.

Imagery:

" My heart, clear as a crystal beam" This quote includes imagery. The imagery is that his heart is very plain and simple , basically you can see inside and out. When someone can understand your heart or knows your heart that means that your feelings or whatever is very self explanatory, very simple.

"An unknown woman, whom I love, who loves me well,".This quote has imagery. The imagery is that he loves someone that he doesn't even know.It would be crazy to say you love someone you done know its basically like loving a ghost.

Figurative Language:

"Her eyes are like the statues',-mild and grave and wide" This Quote has figurative language. He uses a metaphor to describe this mistrust girls eyes using words like mild, grave, and wide.

"And for her voice she has as if it were the ghost Of other voices,-well-loved voices that have died." This Quote uses figurative language. It has a simile because it uses the word as to describe how the mistrust girls voice sounds and what it reminds him of.

Tone:

The tone of this story sounds kind of lovely , creepy and sad. The reason I chose the word lovely is because it sounds like this mysterious girl is very nice and sweet, and understands him.I chose the word creepy because he said the voice of the mysterious woman reminds him of the loved ones that he has lost (Dead people).I said sad because he doesn't even know who this person is and that all he knows is that this person that seems to care for him is only a dream.

Theme:

The theme of this poem is that you never know what you have until it is gone. He explains how this is only a girl that is in his dreams so basically his love is a ghost which reminds him of someone he loved which is now dead. So basically i think he's trying to tell us to take advantage of the loved ones we have now while we still can.Things can always change.